Friday, October 5, 2018

Vine mapleAcer circinatum
Vine maple is an eye-catching, fire-engine red in fall on open sites.
The wood, though limited in size, is very dense and hard and it is
flexible when fresh. It was used for snowshoe frames, drum hoops, and a
variety of small implements, spoons and dishes. (Plants of the Pacific
Northwest Coat)

B.C. signs 'breakthrough' reconciliation agreement with shíshálh Nation
The province has signed an agreement with the shíshálh Nation on the
Sunshine Coast that is being hailed as a milestone in the relationship
between the province and Indigenous groups. The reconciliation agreement
sets the terms for a government-to-government relationship between the
province and the self-governing shíshálh, formerly known as the Sechelt
First Nation, around economic development and environmental
protection.... The province is providing about $36 million to pay for
the transfer of three parcels of Crown land to the shíshálh for cultural
and economic use, including gravel mining and forestry. The land is
adjacent to shíshálh territory. Megan Thomas reports. (CBC)

New effort will analyze genes of endangered Northwest orcas
A new scientific effort will sequence the genomes of critically
endangered Pacific Northwest orcas to better understand their genetics
and potentially find ways to save them from extinction. The
collaboration announced Thursday involves scientists with the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Northwest Fisheries Science
Center, the nonprofit Nature Conservancy and BGI, a global genomics
company. The project will sequence the genome — the entire genetic code
of a living thing — of more than 100 southern resident killer whales
using skin or other samples collected from live and dead orcas over the
past two decades. Initial results are expected next year. (Associated
Press)

What Do Killer Whales Do at Night?
Scientists know much about the imperiled, fish-eating resident killer
whales that live off the west coast of North America, but some facets of
these marine mammals’ lives are mysterious. For instance, what do they
do at night? Think about nocturnal animals and bats and owls probably
come to mind. Most animals, humans included, are diurnal and on the go
during the day. Killer whales, however, follow a diel cycle—they’re
active both day and night. The puzzle for researchers is to determine
how the whales’ behavior—their foraging, socializing, traveling,
resting, and sleeping habits—changes from day to night. Understanding
the intricacies of whale behavior is difficult at the best of times,
even more so when they slip below the ocean’s surface at night. “We hear
them on the hydrophones at night,” explains Sheila Thornton, a research
scientist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada who is overseeing a study
into the shadowy lives of killer whales. “They’re active in their
vocalizing, but we want to take that one step further and see what
they’re actually doing.” Larry Pynn reports. (Hakai Magazine)

The role sea otters play in saving salmon – a benefit for the Southern Resident orcas
In a marine protected area off of Vancouver Island, Canada, a rich
ecosystem supports breeding and migrating seals and sea lions – and at
least one adorable sea otter, Ollie. Southern resident killer whales
pursue the adult salmon that hide among the kelp fronds, and the mammal
eating transient orcas hunt the seals and sea lions.... Admittedly, not
everyone loves these furry machines that need a quarter of their body
per day to keep warm, even with their luxurious coats. They consume over
a hundred different species of primarily bottom dwelling invertebrates,
but come into conflict with fishermen over the sea cucumbers, urchins,
clams, abalone etc that have a fairly high market value. When the otters
move into a region they do have an impact on those fisheries, but what
they give back to the environment makes them worth their weight in gold –
their foraging habits quickly restore kelp beds where juvenile salmon
hide on the journey to the open ocean. Each female Chinook salmon that
successfully returns to spawn carries as many as 17,000 eggs, so each
fish saved by adequate kelp beds can have a significant impact. Candace
Calloway Whiting reports. (SeattlePI.com)

To Save Orcas, Removing Snake River Dams May Not Be The Answer, Feds Say
As the Northwest’s killer whales have gained worldwide attention, more
calls are being made to bolster the population of salmon they eat. One
big way to do that, supporters say, is by removing the four Lower Snake
River dams, which make it harder for salmon to survive. But the federal
government isn’t so sure that’s the answer. The federal agencies that
manage those dams and hold some responsibility for the survival of fish
and marine mammals say salmon from the Snake River are not a key source
of prey for most orcas. They said removing or altering the dams would
only help two of the 15 salmon runs on which orcas depend. Courtney
Flatt reports. (OPB/EarthFix)

B.C.’s climate targets mean major changes for ordinary citizens
Hundreds of thousands of British Columbians will need to switch to
electric heat, install energy-saving devices like heat pumps and
purchase electric vehicles if the NDP government has any hope of meeting
its climate targets after approving a new liquefied natural gas
industry. Premier John Horgan’s government has begun to shed light on
how it expects to meet pollution reduction goals after LNG Canada
approved its $40-billion terminal and pipeline in Kitimat. Exact details
will be released in the government’s climate plan later this fall. But
provincial officials offered media a high-level overview this week of
the path for B.C. to get 75 per cent of the way to its goal of cutting
greenhouse gas emissions 40 per cent below 2007 levels by 2030. Rob Shaw
reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Nat'l Monument Public Comment Period begins Friday, October 5th
Islanders for the San Juan Islands National Monument write: "The Bureau
of Land Management will begin a 90-day public comment period on Friday,
October 5th, seeking your input on the management plan that will govern
the San Juan Islands National Monument for the next 15-20 years... The
Federal Register Notice states the Draft Resource Management Plan will
be available starting Friday at the monument office on Lopez Island and
online at https://go.usa.gov/xRphc." Islanders will develop a Guide to the Issues and give tips on commenting. Best to wait for the Guide to comment so keep apprised of the process here.

Navy action on jets prompts protest in Port Townsend
Facing northeast toward Whidbey Island, 75 members of the Sound Defense
Alliance sent the Navy a message from North Beach Park. The group held
48 placards spelling out “No New Jets. No New Flights” on Wednesday
afternoon as EA-18 Growler jets were flying overhead, practicing
takeoffs and landings at Outlying Field Coupeville (OLF). Jeannie
McMacken reports. (Peninsula Daily News) See also: US Navy gets $2M to study jet engine noise(Stars and Stripes)

How the mushroom dream of a 'long-haired hippie' could help save the world's bees
he epiphany that mushrooms could help save the world’s ailing bee
colonies struck Paul Stamets while he was in bed.... Years ago, in 1984,
Stamets had noticed a “continuous convoy of bees” traveling from a
patch of mushrooms he was growing and his beehives. The bees actually
moved wood chips to access his mushroom’s mycelium, the branching fibers
of fungus that look like cobwebs.... In research published Thursday in
the journal Scientific Reports, Stamets turned intuition into
reality. The paper describes how bees given a small amount of his
mushroom mycelia extract exhibited remarkable reductions in the presence
of viruses associated with parasitic mites that have been attacking,
and infecting, bee colonies for decades. Evan Bush reports. (Seattle
Times) And also: World’s deadliest mushroom prompts warning to B.C. mushroom lovers (National Post)

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